Last year at around this time, the Braves and Royals engaged in a waiver war over right-hander Jairo Cuevas. The Royals, guided by former Atlanta assistant GM Dayton Moore, claimed him from the Braves on Oct. 24, the Braves reclaimed him on Nov. 27 and the Royals reclaimed him on Dec. 10.
The Royals ended up winning the battle, as they were able to non-tender Cuevas and then re-sign him on Dec. 13, allowing them to keep him in the organization without using a 40-man roster spot on him. Cuevas went on to miss the entire 2009 season after recovering from shoulder surgery, and he’ll be back in Royals camp as a non-roster player next year.
There will be no waiver war this time. However, there could be some controversy over the fate of one Juan Abreu. The Royals’ Double-A Northwest Arkansas affiliate announced Friday that Abreu had been re-signed to a minor league contract.
The Braves, apparently, disagreed. They announced the signing of Abreu to a major league contract on Tuesday and added the 24-year-old right-hander to their 40-man roster.
Time will tell if Abreu is worth the fuss. He can reach the mid-90s with his fastball and he’s struck out 10.9 batters per nine innings during a four-year minor league career, but his command is awful and he struggled in his first attempt at Double-A last season. Overall, he had a 3.67 ERA and a 53/36 K/BB ratio in 41 2/3 innings between high-A Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas last season. He’ll almost certainly open next year back in Double-A.

With Odorizzi, the Twins finally have the front-end starter they’ve been seeking all winter. It’s a bargain deal as well, as the 27-year-old righty is under contract through 2019 and didn’t require the club to part with any of their top-shelf prospects in the trade. Odorizzi will be looking to stage a comeback in 2018 after a dismal performance with the Rays last year, during which he eked out a career-worst 4.14 ERA, 3.8 BB/9 and 8.0 SO/9 through 143 1/3 innings.

Palacios, 21, ranked no. 27 in the Twins’ system last season. He split his year between Single-A Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers, raking a combined .296/.333/.454 with 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 539 plate appearances. He’s expected to continue developing at shortstop, though he’s also seen limited time at second and third base during his four-year career in the minors.